Reconciliation
by TXMedic
Summary: An epilogue, of sorts, to my story The Judas. Javier makes amends.


"_Castle" belongs to ABC and Marlowe. If they belonged to me, season five's premier would have gone very differently. :-)_

**Reconciliation**

When the alarm on his phone went off, Kevin Ryan reached for it with a groan of pain. His fumbling hand finally found the cellphone near the lamp and he grabbed it, glaring at the blurry screen until he could focus enough to turn it off. He was disoriented and felt as if he had a post-St. Paddy's-Day hangover. What the hell…?

As the sleepy detective ran a gentle finger over what felt like a fat lip, Kevin remembered the events of the day before…the slip on the ladder and the standoff on the roof. He vaguely remembered Karpowski taking him to the ER for stitches and x-rays, but after that things got a little fuzzy. Ryan thought he remembered Javier helping him to the apartment, but knew that was wishful thinking on his part. His partner wouldn't even return a text message, he certainly wouldn't have been at Kevin's home.

With another pain-filled groan, Kevin rolled himself into a sitting position at the edge of the bed and flipped on the bedside lamp. He felt like one big bruise. Jenny was going to kill him. Maybe not right away, but once the bruises faded and he'd used up all her sympathy…she'd kill him for not telling her the truth about what had happened. And, crap, he was supposed to have called her the previous evening. Kevin dropped his head into the palms of his hands and moaned softly. He was a dead man walking.

With a sigh, the detective stood and carefully stripped off the t-shirt he was wearing, tossing it onto the bed. Kevin turned on the bedroom light and went to stand in front of the dresser mirror. The bruises on his abdomen and left arm looked even worse than the day before, but they at least felt less sore. He had a small bandage on the bottom of his chin. Pulling gently at his bottom lip, Kevin wrinkled his brow at the neat row of black stitches on the inside. So much for giving his wife a huge kiss when he picked her up from the airport. He wondered just how much worse his life could get, before things started getting better.

The one light in the darkness was that Jenny was finally coming home. Kevin remembered that Castle had arranged a limo to pick him up so that he could meet his wife at the airport, as a thank you for saving Beckett from falling from that rooftop ledge. He grabbed a pair of clean boxers from the dresser and wandered down the hall to the bathroom, shuffling his bare feet tiredly on the cool wood flooring. He needed to sweep, but shrugged off the thought as soon as it came. Jenny was already going to be pissed at him for giving her a half-truth about his injuries, he might as well add not doing any cleaning to his list of transgressions. Besides, picking her up from the airport in a limo would probably erase her irritation at his lack of industry.

Tossing the boxers onto the counter in the bathroom, Kevin reached into the cabinet for a clean towel. He hung it on the hook by the shower, then shucked out of the baggy sweatpants he'd borrowed the day before from his partner's locker.

"_Y'know what, bro? Keep the sweats. I'll buy new ones."_

Kevin paused with his hand on the shower curtain and frowned. What kind of dream did he have last night, anyway? Giving himself a mental shake, he turned on the water and stuck his hand under the spray as he waited for the temperature to even out. Satisfied, he stepped into the tub and sighed softly at the soothing sting of the hot water on his sore muscles. Man, it had been a long three weeks. And not likely to get much better any time soon, even with Beckett and Esposito returning from suspension on Monday.

He was careful to keep his face out of the water, so the stitches in his chin didn't get wet. He had no idea if they were the dissolving kind or not, but figured it was better to be safe than sorry. He didn't want a repeat trip to the ER for new ones. Once the water started to run cold, Kevin rinsed quickly and turned off the shower. He shivered slightly in the cooler air of the bathroom and wished he'd shut the door to keep in the warm steam. Kevin made quick work of toweling dry and slipping on the boxers, then hot-footed it back to the bedroom for warm clothes.

Dressed in worn, comfortable jeans and a plain grey t-shirt, Kevin yawned as he headed for the kitchen for some much-needed coffee. The whole lower half of his face hurt. He made a mental note to avoid yawning for a while. A glance at his watch indicated he still had time before the limo was due to arrive. Once the coffee machine was brewing, Kevin opened the fridge and grabbed an apple. He quickly put it back, realizing how stupid that idea was. He settled on a nice, soft piece of bread as a better alternative and went to turn on the TV to check the weather.

"You okay, bro?"

Heart racing at the sudden words, Kevin spun around and nearly tripped over his own feet as his hand automatically reached toward his hip and a gun that wasn't there.

"What the _fuck_?!"

His partner…his _partner_…sat up on the sofa, where he'd obviously been sleeping, and shot Ryan an amused look. Kevin worked to calm his thumping heart and make sense of what he was seeing. "Javi, what are you doing here?"

Javier's first instinct was to fire back a witty retort, but caught himself at the last second. He knew he'd been an ass to Kevin the last few weeks. That his partner had suffered loneliness and endured unpleasantness from their co-workers. Kevin deserved more than Javier just acting like the last few weeks hadn't happened.

Swinging his legs over the side of the couch to sit up properly, Esposito rubbed a hand over his close-cropped hair and sighed slowly. He watched as his partner's breathing settled down from being startled to find someone sleeping on his sofa. "I'm guessing you don't remember much about getting home from the ER last night?"

Kevin shifted his weight uncomfortably, the slice of honey wheat bread forgotten in his hand as he stared at his slightly disheveled partner and tried to read those dark eyes. "Not much. I thought I'd remembered you helping me up to the apartment, but after what happened...you wouldn't...I figured it was a dream."

The aborted words he figured Kevin was about to say made Javier wince and drop his head for a moment. God, he'd been such an _ass _that Kevin hadn't thought his own partner would bother helping him home from the hospital. Raising his head to meet Kevin's penetrating gaze, eyes a dark blue in the dimness of the early morning, Esposito sighed deeply.

"Kevin, I'm sorry that I took everything out on you. You did what I had failed to do. You saved Beckett's life and I hated you for it, because I should've been able to protect her. I left you swinging in the wind and you have every right to be angry with me."

His partner had always been an open book, so Javier easily read the emotions passing quickly over Kevin's face. He knew he hadn't really earned any forgiveness, but he also knew he'd get it anyway. That's just how Ryan was. Sure enough, Kevin's face finally settled on a wobbly smile as the younger man stepped closer to hold out his hand in offering. With a feeling of absolution, Javier stood and clasped the offered hand with his own, his fingers wrapping firmly around Kevin's. A lot was said in that simple handshake.

"So, Castle told me he arranged for a limo to take you to the airport to pick up Jenny. You need some moral support when facing the wife? 'Cause, once she gets one look at your face..." Javier left the sentence hanging and smirked.

With a crooked smile, Kevin nodded at the implied consequences. "At least if you're there, she won't light into me until we get home."

"Chicken."

"Absolutely."

"You know it's only because she loves you, right?"

Smiling that goofy smile whenever Kevin thought about how much he loved Jenny, he shrugged in admittance. "Yeah, I know. It's why I let her do it."

"Mind if I borrow your bathroom?" Javier pushed himself up from the couch and stretched his sore back. "You got any extra toothbrushes?"

"Yes, yes and you know where to find them."

That statement kind of stung a bit. A reminder of what Esposito could've thrown away if he hadn't finally let go of his anger. He _did _know where the Ryans kept their extra toiletries for guests. Because he'd crashed there enough times in the past. Javier let it go and gestured at the slice of bread in Kevin's hand.

"You gonna eat that or just carry it around?"

His partner seemed almost surprised to see the bread. "Eat it. It's the softest thing I could find that didn't require cooking."

Heading toward the hallway, on his way to the bathroom, Javier shot him a look over his shoulder. "Maybe we can stop to grab a bite to eat after we pick up Jenny. Might as well milk the limo as long as we can."

Chuckling softly at Javier's mercenary statement, Kevin took a careful bite of the bread and sat down on the sofa to wait for his partner. His _partner_. Although he knew he should probably be less forgiving of Javier after what he'd endured over the last three weeks, Kevin couldn't bring himself to feel anger. They had all made choices that day. All with consequences. But, Javier was making a peace offering and Kevin wouldn't turn it down. He had given Espo his forgiveness with that simple handshake they'd shared. It's what family does. Forgive.

END


End file.
